


Quartz Sisters and Ice Cream

by Enlightened_Introvert



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: A little thing from Tumblr, Quartz Sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 01:49:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12378366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enlightened_Introvert/pseuds/Enlightened_Introvert
Summary: Amethyst and Jasper get ice cream.





	Quartz Sisters and Ice Cream

Is it too late to back out? Of course it is. I’m not saying I’m scared, but the mere thought of what I’m about to do leaves a sick feeling in the back of my throat.

Amethyst and I walk down the boardwalk, eliciting curious stares from humans who weren’t native to this region, or “tourists,” as Amethyst calls them. I hate them. One pulls out a communication device, poised to record me, and I’m almost compelled to slap it from their hand. Knowing that it would only look poorly on me–and I really am trying to be nicer–I simply throw them an angry look. To my relief, Amethyst also gives them a warning glare, and at the threat of a double-Quartz altercation, the human backs down.

Smart move, human.

“So, you excited?” Amethyst asks, bringing me back to the source of my anxiety. I look down at the smaller gem, and I can see two things clearly on her face: she knows I’m nervous and she is enjoying every moment of it.

“Please.” I grumble, rolling my eyes. “Humans do this stuff all the time, right?”

“Eating? Oh yeah,” Amethyst chuckles. “From what I heard it’s supposed to be three times a day, but where’s the fun in that?” She elbows my thigh as if know what she’s talking about before trotting ahead of me. “Here it is!”

She stops in front of a woefully tiny shop with “Cone ‘N’ Son” emblazoned across a little sign, gesturing wildly as humans move to avoid her. She’s grinning widely, excitedly, and I almost feel bad about how apprehensive I feel. I mean, it can’t be  _that_  bad, right? Maybe some of my bad feelings are from–dare I say it?–listening to Pearl. At least it’s just Amethyst, plus a few humans who probably don’t care.

 _I can do this, I can do this_ , I repeat in my head, the artificial confidence pushing me forward as Amethyst pushes through the door in front of me. I have to duck and walk sideways just to fit through the puny door, and of course Amethyst has laugh at me the entire time. The young human behind the counter was only mildly shocked by the intrusion, and had recovered his wits by the time Amethyst slapped some currency down in front of him.

“Hello, welcome to Cone ‘N’ Sons!” He greeted in a chipper voice. “How may I help you?”

“Hey, Chip,” Amethyst replies, having been here before. “I’ll have the usual” –the teen’s face droops a bit as she says this– “And my girl Jasper here can get whatever she wants.”

Chip sighs, taking the money from the counter and taking out the sum of Amethyst’s purchase. Tentatively, I approach the counter, looking down at a multitude of colored deserts. To his credit, the teen doesn’t shy away as I approach.

“What’ll you have?” Amethyst asks beside me.

I’m at a loss for words, totally bewildered by the choices before me. As one can imagine, Homeworld has never been too keen on “choice,” given that a gem is made for a specific purpose and is provided with everything they could possibly need to fulfill it. For such a seemingly mundane task, it’s embarrassingly liberating, and frustratingly difficult.

Amethyst shakes my elbow, still waiting for an answer.

“Hey, want me to order for you?” She asks. The teen has already left to concoct Amethyst’s order; I can see him in the back room, gagging at whatever the “usual” is.

“No! I’m not stupid,” I reply irritably, glaring through the glass counter as if the answer would come to me.

“Eh, that’s debatable,” she drawls, throwing up her palms as I turn my glare on her. “Kidding! Look, maybe you should start easy. I mean, ice cream is one of the easier treats, hence why we’re here and not the Big Donut, but still. Ooh!” She runs over to the other end of the counter. “Here, everyone loves chocolate.”

For some reason, the idea offends me. “Try something easy?  _Me?”_  Without thinking, I slap my hand down onto the counter’s surface, cracking it. “Do you know who you’re talking to?! I don’t _need_  easy!”

“Woah! Okay, okay, jeez! Stop breaking stuff!” Amethyst calls, pulling at my hand. “You can have what I’m having, but I don’t wanna make the poor boy cry.”

“You’re taste is disgusting.”

Amethyst snorts. “Been listening to Pearl, huh?”

“No!”

Chip comes back, holding a monstrosity of a dish, piled high with all kinds of things that undoubtedly didn’t go on ice cream. I can’t identify anything on there, but by the look on the teen’s face, he seems to regret every single instance that has led up to this moment.

“H-here you go,” he all but gags, relieved when she finally removes it. He then gazes at me pleadingly. “And what about you?”

“Give her the five most unpopular flavors,” Amethyst cuts in, saving me the hassle, and Chip is more than happy to comply.

We leave quickly as he is placing the rest of the money in the cash register, before he can notice the destruction of property. The mixture he handed me certainly doesn’t look like anything significant, but it’s definitely more interesting than the chocolate, packed into a cardboard container and melting in the hot midday sun. It does look good, I decide, stabbing it with my tiny plastic utensil as we find a place to sit on the beach, away from the disturbance of humans. That doesn’t exclude the disturbance of seagulls, however, and we are forced to move three different times before finding an ideal place.

We plop down in the sand, carefully of the dripping deserts, and look out at the water for a second. Idly, I stir the spoon around, but before I decide to remove it,  I feel eyes watching me.

“Uh, do you mind?”

“I’m sorry, but this is, like, you’re first big human thing!” Amethyst replies excitedly. “Besides sleeping, anyways. I wanna remember it so I can tease you about it later.”

I can’t help but smile, always stricken at the best of times by this new-old warmth towards someone I’ve come to care. I jab the spoon into the first scoop one last time–a white ice cream with round bits in it–and lift it up, annoyingly small in my hands. I take my first bite…

“Oh my stars…”

“Good, isn’t it?!”

My mind can’t even begin to process it. I take another bite, and it’s even better than the first. I take a bite of a bright green scoop and it’s even better than that, and suddenly I can’t stop long enough to answer. I can’t even stop to smack Amethyst as she laughs at me, but I couldn’t care less at this moment. After awhile, Amethyst digs into her own slop, and we’re just enjoying the moment.

It’s so sweet and smooth and cold. I hate the cold normally, but apparently it’s different when it’s inside my mouth. So many flavors that I just can’t place, but they definitely taste better than dirt, after having your face plowed into the ground by an enemy. Just a couple bites releases tension I didn’t even know I was carrying. It’s almost addicting, and I have to quietly remind myself to slow down.

Thankfully, and unfortunately, I didn’t have to.

“Agh!” I cry, grabbing my face as an unusual pain shoots between my eyes and Amethyst grabs my arm in concern.

“Hey, Jasp, you okay?”

I pound my fist lightly against my forehead, willing the feeling to go away. “Ow.”

“Oh man,” Amethyst whispered, then more loudly, “oh man! Do you have brain freeze? You can get brain freeze?!”

“What the heck is brain freeze?!” I cry.

“I’ll bet your gem placement makes your face more sensitive,” she laughs. “Dude! What if Pearl get’s brain freeze? Or Peridot? Oh.” She continues, seeing me still cringing beside her. “Yeah, it happens when you eat ice cream too fast. I don’t get it, but I also don’t have a gem on my face.” She reaches up to touch my gem and I smack her hand away.

As uncomfortable as I am, I still see this as not so much of a deterrent as it is an incentive I needed to eat slower. The pain subsides after a little bit and I’m left to enjoy the moment again, reveling in sugary goodness.

“Know what? You’re gonna eat plain old cookie dough next,” Amethyst states matter-of-factly, pointing at one of the leftover bits in my container. “Good stuff. Oh, but first you gotta try doughnuts!” She snorts obnoxiously, and I already know what she’s going to say before she says it. “It won’t give you brain freeze!”

**Author's Note:**

> This is not my best work, I know, but it kinda got me out of my writer's block. Hopefully I'll update my main fic before next weekend.


End file.
